Collide
by Angeling
Summary: My take on how Umeda & Akiha met. Comments please !
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All the character are owned by Hisaya Nakajo. Hope this one is a better read... Had more fun writing this.

Chapter 1:

Umeda sat comfortably behind the bushes and took a sip of his beer. It was a cheery morning. The sky was a clear blue, spotted with fluffy white clouds. The view from the roof-top would have been much better but it wouldn't do for a sensei to be found smoking and drinking there. Besides, settling for the bushes had proved to be more interesting; especially since he was able to eavesdrop to the exchanges between certain students. Ah, the joy of being young. Things have certainly been getting interesting at Ohsaka Gakuen ever since Mizuki transferred here. It was amazing that none of the guys she has been mixing around with have noticed that she is a female (with the exception of Sano and himself).

Umeda inhaled deeply from the cigarette in his other hand, enjoying his reprieve from that irritating kouhai of his who never seemed to have enough work to do to keep him out of Umeda's office. Despite the pains he had taken to avoid his kouhai, Umeda was to unable to shake Akiha from his shadow. It was plain bad luck that Akiha had taken a fancy on Mizuki to be his one of his models for the Pupa advertisement which had led to Akiha eventually discovering Umeda working as the school doctor in their Alma Mata. Umeda could not believe that Akiha was still infatuated with him after so long.

Umeda tried to shake off the unwanted trip down memory lane but it was already too late. He could still remember the day when he first met Akiha…

"I really really like you. Let me show you…" Umeda whispered huskily in Kijima's ear before his tongue began to make lazy circles in the latter's ear. They were both sitting on the roof-top, the warm sun causing both their shirts to stick to their chests. Classes were over and most of the students have left the school block for their society activities so there was almost absolute privacy in the school grounds, not that Umeda or Kijima were particularly concerned with being found out. The danger of being found out made what they were doing more exciting and exhilarating anyway.

Both of them have been 'dating' for almost a year now. But it was difficult to place a finger on exactly what they were to each other. Kijima always seemed… detached. His face was always a stoic mask, devoid of all expressions, except to smirk when Umeda did something that unexpectedly engaged his interest. Umeda was always the one to make plans and take initiative in everything they did; just like when Kijima nominated him to be his co-organizer for the school event and ended up dumping everything on Umeda's lap.

Umeda undid the buttons on Kijima's shirt, at the same time licking a moist path down Kijima's chest, all the way to his navel. Kijima gave a shudder as Umeda's tongue dipped into his sensitive spot. He jerked Umeda up so that the both of them were eye to eye before kissing Umeda violently, his hands feathery-light under Umeda's shirt, trailing the sweat-slicked back. Umeda turned to face Kijima more fully, allowing Kijima's hands to roam more freely and to sink his own hands into Kijima's spiky crop, causing the jet black hair to stand in all directions.

"Ahem." A voice suddenly broke into Umeda's consciousness, destroying the moment.

Umeda looked up slowly towards the voice, his senses dulled from the passionate encounter with Kijima.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Umeda asked irritably, a dark scowl marring his features as he stared at the lower classman who interrupted his private time.

"Akiha Hara. You were supposed to be tutoring me 30 minutes ago." The blond boy replied, the lollipop in his mouth replaced by a wide grin, as if seeing two grown half-naked boys kissing were a common everyday affair.

Umeda narrowed his eyes. He had forgotten that he had promised Yumiko sensei to tutor lower classmen who were weak in their studies. Yumiko sensei had initially approached Kijima to do it since _he _was supposed to be the model student - not Umeda - but Kijima in his manipulative manner, had convinced the teacher that Umeda would be a better tutor than him. So now, Umeda was stuck with this cocky kouhai who did not seem to be in need of any extra lessons except in manners and better timing.

Umeda coolly smoothened down his clothes and adjusted his semi-skewed glasses and turned to taller golden-haired boy. "Let's go then." Umeda said curtly, miffed at both Kijima and Akiha.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: All the character are owned by Hisaya Nakajo.

Chapter 2:

Akiha glanced at the retreating figure of the red-head who had stormed off down the stairs and looked at Kijima who was still on the floor, his clothes and hair rumpled from Umeda's fingers.

"You shouldn't have interrupted us. Next time respect your elders' privacy. An angry Umeda is not someone you want to deal with." Kijima said, lighting his cigarette nonchalantly as he spoke. It was getting tiring to continuously try to maintain the perfect image he had created.

"I'll remember your advice, _senpai_."

Kijima chuckled to himself as he watched the lanky boy chase after his boyfriend down the stairs. He will find ways to sooth Umeda later tonight; perhaps with one of his irresistible massages. That was his last thought as he closed his eyes and enjoyed his cigarette.

XXXXX

Akiha found Umeda in one of the classrooms on the floor below. Umeda had a grumpy look on his face and was tapping his pen loudly against the desk. Umeda pointed an extremely annoyed glance at the door, sensing his kouhai's approach.

"You sure took your time considering that you were the one complaining about me being late. What help do you need? Hayaku, I don't have all day you know…"

Akiha grinned to himself as he sat down and prepared himself for 'class'. Everything was going according to plan. It seems that all things were not that rosy in paradise after all.

XXXXX

"That's all for today." Umeda push up his spectacles and pinched the bridge of his nose with weariness. "I'll tell Yumiko sensei that you can stop taking lessons. You are doing well enough to handle it by yourself."

Umeda had been giving Akiha extra lessons everyday after class for a month now. As far as he could see, the golden-hair youth had no problems understanding his assignments at all. If there was any problem, it would only be Akiha's short attention span. He always caught Akiha glancing about instead of paying attention to what he was explaining. However, every time when Umeda posed a question, his kouhai was never stumped and always come up with the correct answer. He could not understand why Yumiko sensei said that Akiha needed help with his studies.

The words 'stop taking lessons' startled Akiha and made him snap out of the daydream he was having from staring at the sun playing with Umeda's hair . The sun had brought out the reddish highlights in Umeda's hair and the heat had caused the longish ends to curl up at the collar. His fingers itched for his camera or better yet, to run his fingers through each strand and watch it glow like fire in his hand.

"But senpai! I don't understand this… and this… and this!" Akiha agitatedly pointed randomly to various questions that he had no problem answering a few minutes ago.

Umeda stared at Akiha. Throughout the month, Umeda had sensed that there was something fishy with this arrangement. He was _GAY_ and Akiha's overt looks at him when he thought Umeda was not watching did not go unnoticed by Umeda. Even if Umeda was _that _dense, those long hugs and light touches on various parts of his body would have set off the fire alarms in his head.

"You _DO NOT_ need any more help from me. If you have nothing else to say, I'm going off."

"Senpai! Don't leave me." Akiha launched himself at Umeda's back and hugged Umeda tightly. "If I fail my finals it will be entirely your fault. Would you want my failure on your conscience, knowing that you could have helped me? Besides, it is only one more month to the finals." Akiha whined and wheedled and tried to change Umeda's mind.

Umeda tried to disengage himself from Akiha's arms. Failing to do so, he turned and fixed his steely gaze at Akiha in a glare. "Get… Your… Hands… Off… Me," Umeda enunciated every word slowly, his honey-brown eyes turning to light-gold as his temper grew.

The minute Akiha released his death-like grip on Umeda, he found his face plastered to the floor, his eyes staring at the sole of Umeda's left shoe. "If you ever touch me again, I will kick your ass. End of class. Sa-Yo-Na-Ra." With those words, Umeda turned on his right heel and exited from the classroom, with a cheerful whistle.


	3. Chapter 3

"You can't stop helping Akiha." Yumiko sensei put her hand up to silence Umeda's protest and continued, "Akiha is a talented boy. He is smart. I think you noticed that. But lately, he seems to be distracted and as a result his grades have suffered. I feel that as a senpai, and a _role model, _it's your duty to also provide guidance to your kouhai. It should be easier for him to communicate his problems to you rather than approach a sensei for help. So…"

Yumiko sensei was a compassionate teacher and his favourite sensei in Osaka Gakuen throughout his 3 years in the school. Despite his misgivings, he felt unable to reject her pleas and besides, he could not think of a valid reason other than sexual harassment (but Umeda did not think that it was time to announce his sexual orientation to the whole school). It was just as Kijima had said, Umeda's bark was worse than his bite, especially to people that he liked.

"I understand sensei. I will continue to do my best to guide him."

---

"Do not think that just because I agreed to continue to _tutor _you, this arrangement will carry on. I refuse to waste any more time on you." Umeda towered menacingly over the lanky boy who was seated on the chair, looking up at him.

"But senpai~! I…"

"I am not a fool and I have already caught on your game. There is nothing wrong with you that a good kick in the butt cannot solve." Umeda interrupted, pushing Akiha back into the chair he was trying to get out of. "You may have fooled Yumiko sensei but I am not stupid." _Not after spending so much time being manipulated by someone who is so much more skilled in the art of subtle probing than you._ Surprisingly, Kijima seemed unaffected by the large amount of time that he was spending with Akiha. In fact, even when Kijima came over that night to give Umeda a 'massage', he never mentioned that he was aware that Umeda was still helping Akiha with his schoolwork.

That was the problem Umeda had with Kijima. The bastard never showed any emotions. The only time Umeda ever saw him crack was the night they started 'dating' – the night they spent kissing in the rain. Umeda would not have opposed so much to tutoring Akiha if Kijima showed signs of jealousy but, there was nothing. Helping Akiha was eating away the time that Umeda could spend with Kijima and that irritated the hell out of him. It also did not help that Akiha kept trying to grope his ass too.

At this point in time, he only had eyes for Kijima and Akiha was a nuisance that he did not want. Besides it was their last year together and god knows what will happen after they graduate. Given Kijima's nature, Umeda had learnt to expect the unexpected.

Umeda focused his attention back to the fly in the ointment. "We will continue to have our 'tuition'. But only you will be here. And DILLIGENTLY doing your tutorials. You had better pass your finals with flying colours. If Yumiko sensei comes to me saying that you are not showing any improvement and that she is still worrying about you, I will give you grief. Do you UNDERSTAND me?"

His words caused the grin that Akiha had on his face to slowly disappear. "But senpai~! You promised Yumiko sensei to continue to teach me. You are breaking your promise to her." Akiha sulked.

Besides Kijima, Akiha was the only person who reamined unaffected by Umeda's glare and biting words which would have normally sent the other students scurrying away in fear. This was not a good thing. Umeda was getting exasperated with Akiha's antics but could not seem to find a way to get himself out of this situation that Kijima had unwittingly put him in.

"I do not think that there is any room for negotiations or discussions. So stop bothering me." Umeda deftly side-stepped Akiha and his clumsy attempt to hug him again and planted his fist in Akiha's stomach. "That should teach you not to continue to lay your hands on me. Treat it as our parting gift."

---

Amazingly, that punch seemed to have woken Akiha up. He did not try to pester his senpai in any other way - though that was because Umeda tried to avoid him whenever possible and since they were in different years, it was hard to meet each other too. Unless it was deliberate. Sometimes when Umeda felt safe enough to relax his guard, Akiha would suddenly appear to attempt to kiss or hug him at unexpected places in school. However, each of his attempts was met with a piercing stare from Umeda with an additional kick or punch (since the stare normally failed to stop Akiha's advances).

By the time Umeda graduated from Osaka Gakuen, Akiha had become one of the most popular students of the school - with his trademark lollipop sticking out of his mouth that he never seemed to run out of throughout the day. It also helped that Akiha had begun to build up quite a name for himself as a talented photographer, making him well-known both in and out of school as well. His love for sweet things had also caused his locker to be constantly filled with chocolates and candies from the neighboring girl's school; especially during Valentine's Day.

---

Umeda shook his head to clear it. Why did his thoughts suddenly veer towards Akiha, of all people? He ran a finger round his collar - his hair had stuck to his neck from the sweat and it was becoming annoying. It was time for him to trim his hair again but he was waiting for Kijima to do it for him. It will hold for a few more days

Just as he took his last sip of coffee, the air was suddenly filled with an overwhelming scent of chocolates. Before Umeda could even react to the meaning behind the smell, he was assaulted by the bane of his life.

"Senpaiii~! Ohayoo~!" Akiha exclaimed in that exuberant manner of his as he engulfed his senpai in another one of his oxygen-depriving hugs. Irritated by the fact that his train of thoughts had solidified into Akiha's actual appearance, Umeda elbowed him hard in the chest in retaliation.

"Stop clinging on to me~! And how did you manage to find me?"

"Well, I went to your office but you were not around so I decided to wander around the school grounds. It's amazing how the school has changed in the years since we have graduated…"

"Are you going to get to the point?" Umeda interrupted as he stood up and started to walk towards his office.

"As I was saying before you rudely cut in, I saw your 'smoke signals' as I was walking across the field to find Mizuki when I could not find you." Akiha replied with a mock scowl of displeasure. "So I guess we are fated to be together. How about having dinner with me tonight, senpai?" Akiha's azure eyes glinted with mischief at the thought of a 'date'.

"I'm busy tonight and every night that you are free. I'm going off now. Don't follow me back." Umeda walked off without a backward glance at the pony-tailed photographer whose smiling countenance was replaced with a look of disappointment.


	4. Chapter 4

Akiha sat in his favourite spot at the Café de L'Arc en Ciel pondering on his latest exchange with the short-tempered redhead. He still could not believe that he had managed to meet his senpai again after so many years. Despite having lost contact for so many years, it seemed that Umeda's impression of him had not altered at all. Akiha chuckled to himself as he remembered how he had deliberately wormed himself into Umeda's life.

He had done it on a whim. Umeda had caught his eye one day in school and Akiha thought that Umeda would make a good study for the portfolio which he has preparing for his future career as a photographer. Back in those days, Umeda already had a reputation for being a difficult person and getting close to him would not be easy, let alone approaching him to be a model for him to hone his skills. So he had devised a plan – to let Umeda tutor him and he would try to build a bond between them along the way. It was a foolproof plan since no one could resist Akiha's charms for long; especially when he was determined to win the person over.

In the end, the joke was on him and his plan had backfired on him. Right from the start, things had begun on the wrong foot; his interruption of Umeda's intimate moment with Kijima had sealed his fate with his red-headed senpai from the start. It did not help that Umeda also considered Akiha a burden who caused him of to be unable to spend more time with Kijima. Till now, Akiha still failed to understand what Umeda saw in that ass.

It never crossed his mind that he would fall for Umeda senpai. In fact, if anyone were to tell him that he had fallen for Umeda, he would have laughed it off. At that point of time, it was simply beyond his comprehension. When he had realized that his interest in bad-tempered upper classman was beyond that of finding a suitable model, he had tried to convince himself that it was because Umeda was beautiful and Umeda's beauty had stirred the heart of photographer in him. He was convinced that his obsession had stemmed from the idea of capturing the other side of his senpai and showing it to the world as proof of his skills more than anything else.

Akiha now realized that he was a stubborn fool when it came to love. He was never one to choose the easy way out of it. His persistence in pursuing the impossible relationship with Umeda had ruined a good marriage and broke the heart of a woman who had meant almost as much as Umeda to him. That was the problem. No matter who he dated or married, he was unable to forget Umeda. For some reason or another, what he felt for them had always fallen short in comparison to his feelings for Umeda.

"You have ruined me for others senpai." Akiha murmured to himself as he took a long swallow from the straw of his double chocolate milkshake with extra whip cream and dark chocolate shavings which had arrived during his musings.

--

"Shitsureishimasu. Umeda sensei? Are you in?" Mizuki peered tentatively through the half-open door of the school clinic. She had become extremely wary of entering the place without announcing her presence ever since the past couple of times she had done it resulted in unwanted images of the unpredictable sensei 'getting it on' with unknown males in his workplace.

"Oh, Mizuki. What are you doing here? Problems with Sano again?"Umeda asked with a mock irritation as he sighed with inward relief that the unexpected visitor was Mizuki rather than the long-haired blond octopus. His kouhai was becoming more and more comfortable in his office than was desired

"Iie. But Sano appears to be acting rather weirdly of late. Especially since Akiha senpai asked me to be one of the models for the advertisement that he is doing. Anyway, I just popped by to ask how things are getting along between you and Akiha senpai. He seems to be constantly about here lately." Mizuki teased. It was fun to see Umeda sensei squirm for a change.

Umeda could see that Mizuki was becoming closer to Akiha which made Umeda suspicious. Akiha appears, on the surface, to be a very approachable guy, with his extrovert nature and his silly antics. Mizuki, given her naïve nature might be deceived by Akiha into thinking he was harmless but Umeda knew better. There had to be a motive behind Akiha's actions.

"You should really be more careful about the people you mix around with. You do not seem to worry at all about being found out." Umeda rebuked Mizuki. It was amazing how she could be so sharp about the inter-relationships of those around her yet be so dense and oblivious the feelings others had towards her. If she had paid more attention to her own relationships, she and Sano would not have to keep beating round the bush anymore. While it was entertaining to watch both Muzuki and Sano make fools of themselves, the two amateurs always end up endangering themselves and almost exposing Mizuki's real identity in the process.

Mizuki was one of the people that Umeda sincerely liked and he did not want her to fall prey to Akiha'a machinations. It looks like he would need to have a conversation with Akiha soon to find out his intentions. He would not allow Mizuki to be hurt.

"If you have finished probing into my business, I still have lots of paperwork to catch up on."

"Hai, sensei. I know when I'm not wanted. I'm going off now. I'll be sure to point Akiha senpai in your direction should he come here." Mizuki replied and quickly ducked out of the office before Umeda could catch her and scream at her not to make another joke like that.


End file.
